Welcome Back Sweetheart
by AkitaNeruVocaloid
Summary: Max and Fang had been married for three years. Then Max became pregnant and she left. Now, through a mishap that her daughter caused, she and her twins are reunited with the Flock. There's nothing bad in it but Cassie can seem somewhat sadistic, so T because i am kind of paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey… this may seem cliché but it will have some interesting twists. I know that the plot is a bit overused but, you know I don't really care.**

_Cassie POV_

Okay. You've heard of my mom, Maximum Ride. Well she left her friends and essentially family when she figured out that we were coming. Now, twelve years later, my twin brother Josh and I live with her in Oregon. It's really nice but I always wonder what our dad was like. I got my dad's looks while Josh got Mom's. Well, enough backstory, let's cut to the chase and get to the story.

"I'm gonna kill you Josh," I yelled chasing after my brother who is younger than me by about two minutes. Then I ran into a man when he walked into my way. "Sorry, sir," I mutter and keep chasing my brother. At first the footsteps chasing me don't really bother me as I assume they are my best friend Jen's. I keep running and am disturbed that they didn't drop off at the woods. I yell to Josh, "Josh, up and away."

He does as I tell him to. I follow him to my surprise when I turn around, the guy following us also has wings. Then I realize he looks freakishly like me. "Josh, go get Mom and meet me at the river rock."  
Josh and I hang out at this really large rock by a river and we know exactly where it is.

"What is your name sir?" I ask this with a slightly wavering voice.

"Fang."

"Okay. Can you follow me D- I mean Fang?" I ask. He nods. Man, Mom wasn't lying when she said Dad was silent.

I lead him to the river rock. He looks around and I do Josh's and my signature whistle. He responds, repeating said whistle. He and Mom run up and Mom instantly pales.

"Mom," I ask tentatively, "are you okay?"

"Max?" this is the first the man has spoken since we got here.

"Fang?" Mom spreads her wings.

"Oh my gosh, Max, I thought I would never see you again."

Josh just now starts to realize that the man is our dad (he's slow like that, I was always the smart one) and runs up and hugs him.

"Josh, just because he's our dad doesn't mean you just run up and hug him without explaining first!" Crap. I just spilled everything.

Realization dawns on his face and he looks to Mom. "You left because you thought we wouldn't accept them didn't you?"  
Mom just nods. He immediately pulls her into a hug and let's her cry- wait CRY!- my mom never cries!

"Mom?" then I see that she is happy. Actually, happy. She was always happy with us, but this was a different kind of happy.

"Come on, Max." Dad signals us to follow him and we fly to where I assume the rest of the flock lives.

"Just out of curiosity, Dad, why were you at our school?" I ask.

"I was picking your cousin up seeing as your uncle is blind and your aunt was busy."

"Okay."

A strawberry blonde man walks out and says, "Fang, buddy, wait who are these three people?"

"Iggy, you remember Max, right?" Dad asks as though Iggy would have forgotten.

"Of course," Iggy replies indignantly.

"Well, I ran into one of the twins I didn't know she had even had. Apparently they are mine." Dad says.

"No duh, you two were married," Iggy acts like a total jerk. I felt like punching him, "wait, when she left she was- she had twins?" Man, this guy is such a retard.

"Hey," I say casually.

"Okay, one of the twins. What is your name little girl?" he asks. I am almost as tall as him so this ticks me off and I punch him in the gut, though only enough to show him I mean business.

"Cassie," I reply.

"You hit harder than I expected," Iggy said righting himself.

"I can punch harder if you like," the look on his face was priceless, "oh and the kid to my right, is Josh, my not so smart twin brother."

"Hey," Josh yells.

"You two, stop bickering," Mom says.

"It really is you Maxie!" Okay, to my knowledge, no one and I mean NO one really gets away with calling my mom anything but Max so when she doesn't react I have to work hard not to laugh.

"Iggy, what did you say about Max," the lady who walks out must be my Aunt Ella.

"Hi Aunt Ella," Josh says. I elbow him in the ribs as hard as I can and he rubs the bruise that was already there that I just made a little bit bigger.

The look on Aunt Ella's face was one of shock she looked between Max and Fang and then at Josh and me.

"Flock. Come down here now. Max is here."

A group of four people comes down. There is a tall one eyeing my mom. This must be Dylan. I fail at resisting the urge to tell him to, "Back the heck off my mom. If you didn't see, she is already taken. And even if she weren't she's already committed to him. She had us."

"Who are you?" A young blonde asks. Must be Angel.

"I'm Cassie, Max and Fang's daughter," then gesturing to my brother, "and he's my twin Josh."

"Oh." she says.

"OMG! Max, you had kids! Oh my gosh, why didn't you tell us? Oh wait, I bet you thought we wouldn't accept them." She kept blabbering until I punch her with the same amount of force I did Iggy in the gut.

"Sorry, Cassie gets violent if she's aggravated." Josh said.

"Cassie?" I see Jack. A kid from our school. "What are you doing here? You live miles away."

"Yeah, our dad found us. By the looks of it, he wants us to stay here."

"And why aren't you grunting and punching me in the gut?"

"Already hit the one hour limit my mom set. I'm allowed to injure three people an hour. Iggy was one, Josh was two, though he shouldn't count," I add glaring at Mom, "and Nudge made three. Otherwise, that bruise on your gut would have just become a lot bigger."

He gulped. Truth is, he had an insane crush on me, and I hated his guts.

I heard the lady who I assumed was our grandmother walk down. She saw Max and immediately pulled her into a hug. Whenever anyone used to hug Mom except for us she would flip out and end up nearly getting killed. So we just looked at the spectacle with expressions that said, "What is this? Mom being hugged?"

"OMG, you guys should so see your faces right now," Nudge stops as she sees my fist raise ever so slightly.

"OMG," Uncle Iggy said starting to imitate Nudge, "You finally found a way to shut her up that doesn't involve getting your hand licked."

Josh and I look at him strangely while everyone else starts laughing. Apparently, this is a common joke. Okaaaaaay.

"Come in Max," a kid who looks slightly older than Angel says.

Then I decide to have a little fun and freak the crap out of this new family. I can read minds by the way.

**Please review. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey… let me know if I should change something.**

'_Hey, Uncle Iggy, how come you can cook and make bombs? I heard you need to be able to see to do that' _I said. Transferring the thought from my head to Iggy's.

"WHAT THE HE** WAS THAT?" he yells jumping about a foot in the air while Josh and I crack up laughing.

"Cassie?" Iggy asked, "You can't read minds can you?"  
I just grin evilly as Josh says, "Yep, and she's so sadistic that almost every kid in the school has received a broken arm from her. Her file literally doesn't fit in a folder. She would have been expelled long ago except for the fact that every teacher in the school and the principal are afraid of her."

"Hey, Jack," Aunt Ella had started, "Is that how you got that broken arm last year?"  
I pipe up and say, "Which one? I broke HIS arm like five times last year."

"WHAT?" Aunt Ella was mad at me now.

"Hey you heard what Josh said, I'm probably the most sadistic person you are likely to meet."

"Well then, we need to make you more of a girl," that Nudge person says. I shoot her a look before she shuts up.

"Well, guys, is it all right if Max, Josh, and Cassie stay here," Dad was asking this.

"Sure," that was everybody except for Dylan. He seemed depressed.

"Hey, Dylan, what's wrong? Upset that your supposed 'other half' was already taken and committed? Or are you just a naturally depressing person?" I ask, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh my gosh, you really are Max's daughter," that was a little black Scottie dog. I remembered mom saying that they had had a black, winged, and talking Scottie dog.

"Hey Total," Mom said. Since he had just walked under the table and was right in front of me I just kicked him gently. Apparently, not gentle enough though because then he said, "What was that for?"

The whole room goes quiet and then realizes that it was Total. "What happened Total?" Angel asked. I listened to Total's reply of "She kicked me," with my tongue bit. My mom glares at me and I just say, " I'll be right back."

Of course, my mom knows that depending on my mood that can mean anywhere from six minutes to twelve hours. Since I had perfected the mask of emotionlessness that my father apparently had as well, she couldn't tell. All I know is that when they saw a black feather floating down through the living room window, I heard Fang come out after me. Unfortunately, I was in a white tee that my mom had forced upon me this morning instead of my usual black attire. So he caught up and tackled me. In midair. Ah, the joys of being a bird kid. When you are tackled midair, your first instinct, fold in your wings, your consequence, a few broken bones from the height I was at. Oh well, I just limped back to the house, broken ankle, two broken wings, and a broken arm. My dad was scanning for me but didn't find me. He probably assumed that I had headed back to the house, and so went back. When I got home however, I could barely stand. I managed to get to the door and then heard it open. Then the pain became to much and I collapsed.

**Let me know if I should redo this chapter. I thought it seemed good. Also let me know if you think Cassie should be Gothic or, like Fang, just look Goth. I am not changing her from sadistic, that is, unless I get a bunch of review and/or PM's that say otherwise.**


	3. Chapter 3

**No, Fang is not abusive. He was kind of, in a messed up way, joking around with her while trying to get a hold of her arm and drag her back, not realizing that Max had taught Cassie and Josh to fold in their wings when tackled in midair and as soon as they are let go to catch themselves, but in this instance, she was just a tad to slow.**

_Max POV_

Fang walked in and Cassie wasn't with him. "Where's Cassie?" I ask.

"She's not here?" Fang seems genuinely confused. Then I hear it. A faint voice subconsciously uttering swears and the dragging of someone with a broken ankle.

"Did she fall?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I just assumed that she caught herself and came back." Then Ella gets up and goes to the door. Someone collapses. "Ella what was that?" I ask.

"Max, Cassie is really badly injured." Ella responds.

"She must not have caught herself," I say, "How bad does it look?"

"I can't tell. Her wings aren't folded in."

"She must have broken them. Anything else?" I ask.  
"I can't tell Max. Maybe you should take a look."

I go over and can immediately tell by the cut up look of her ankle that she had to drag it here meaning that it's broken and her arm looks like it's at a strange angle so it must also be broken. Dr. Martinez looks at it and tells Ella to help her get Cassie in the van so she can set the bones before they start healing. Fang comes over and pulls me close. I then realize that I had been holding my breath and that a single tear had escaped my eye.

Dr. Martinez, Ella, and Cassie were back in an hour. Cassie's wings are set and it would seem that her arm and ankle are as well. She is awake and glaring at Total as though she hates him with a passion.

_Cassie POV_

_Time Skip…The next day. At school._

"Hey, Ride." Oh great, my favorite person in the world. Shaun. The head jock of the school. Have I mentioned that he is always surrounded and they aren't scared of me when they are together in their little group? They obviously didn't get the memo that I hide a pocketknife and a switchblade in the boots I wear every day. Sadly, today, Mom told Nudge she could pick my outfit since all of my clothes were at home. Something I planned on remedying that this afternoon. She had dressed me in a dark blue top with (get this) the pattern of a set of wings on it and some blue skinny jeans (change them to my usual black and we would be fine). She tried to put make-up on me but I twisted her arm and she quickly gave up.

"What do you want Shaun? Oh and if your looking for Sheila, I think she is by your locker. Trying to convince you to go over there."  
"Why aren't you wearing black? You don't really think you can become popular, do you?" Okay, time for my magnificent backstory.

"I lost a bet with Jen and she got to pick my outfit today."

"What was the bet."  
"That I couldn't go a week without fantasizing about breaking every freaking bone in your body."

"Like you could," was his oh so brilliant retort.

"Actually I could, and I won't hesitate to do so if you don't get out of my ten foot radius, No Jock space right now." I said. He didn't believe me so I grabbed his arm, twisted until I heard a satisfying crack and then left feeling extra chipper (not that I usually am).

The rest of my day went fine until I realized at the end of the day that Dad said he would be picking me, Josh, and Jack up from school. Ugh. I had to go back and get my stuff (namely, my guitar and clothes, I am NOT going through another day of Nudge choosing my outfit). I got in Dad's car and prepared for a ride home in silence. Suddenly my dad (a.k.a. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Never Opens His Mouth) asked my why I had wanted to kill Josh yesterday (yeah, he probably wouldn't put it past me).

"I wasn't going to kill him, I was just going to break his arm and maybe his nose," I said.

"You're dodging the question," Dad replied.

"He's an idiot. He made a fool of himself and me."  
"How?"

"He was pinned to the wall by a jock and started rambling and said that I had nightmares a lot. We have an agreement, he tells anyone about my nightmares, I break his face and possibly every other bone in his body. But if I tell anyone about his crush on Jen, then I get the same, that is, if I don't flip out at the attack and nearly kill him."  
"That is the longest paragraph you have ever said," Josh felt the need to say.

"And you're a retard. It looks like were even." And with that, they both shut up.

**Weak, I know. I didn't want to put a really short chapter up so I figured I would take her into school the next day. I was wondering if I should redo this chapter. Oh and check out the fanfic My Life by _Matt and Mello equals Metto XD _ . it's really good. If you don't understandable. I don't know how many people read these things anyways so, yeah.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, don't know if you are still reading. I forgot to update. SORRY! Well, I will no longer postpone your story.**

_Cassie POV_

After I convinced Mom to drive Josh and I back for our stuff I ran straight to the car. My wings weren't completely healed yet, so, we had to drive. As we were driving I thought about the nightmare I had had the night before. They were of a girl who looked just like me. A scientist told her that her mom thought she was dead. It was truly horrible.

_Flashback_

"_Please don't hurt me," the girl said._

"_We will do whatever we d*** well please." the scientist said. _

"_I want my mom. You people have kept me here my whole life. I want my mom and sister. Don't lie. I know I have a twin sister. I have a permanent mind link with her," the girl yelled. _

"_She doesn't even know you exist. And your mommy," the scientist said. She continued mockingly, "Your mom thinks your dead."_

_I felt sorry for the girl. The scientist left. Then the girl said to no one, "I know you'll find me Cassie. I know you will. Just look for me. My name is," and then my mother woke me up._

"Cassie, snap out of it," Josh said.

"Sorry," I said, twisting his arm and spraining his wrist for the fun of it. After I gathered my few things (about twelve sets of black shirts, pants, etc. and my guitar) and put them in the car Mom and I were waiting for Josh.

"Hey Mom, were Josh and I the only ones, or was there another one of us?" I asked.

"There was another one. The doctors at the hospital said she didn't make it though," my mom answered, "How did you find out?"  
"How could you be so stupid?" I asked. I grabbed my two bags and took off. I flew straight to a set of woods outside a large white building in California. Something told me that the mystery triplet was here. Something that I couldn't put my finger on.

**I was going to entirely stop the chapter right here. I decided against it. You're welcome.**

_Fang POV_

"Angel, do a mindsweep. See if anyone has a mind block up or if you can locate Cassie." Max came home in tears. She said that Cassie had just flown off. There was more to it but I wasn't going to ask at the time.

"Got her. She is really far away," then she gasped, "She is outside of the School."

"What!" Max and I yelled at the same time.

_Cassie POV_

That night I had a dream conversation with mystery twin.

"Cassie! I can't believe you got here so quickly. I should tell you my name. It is Tara."

"Tara. That is really a nice name," I replied to her.

"The School is heavily guarded. You should have brought the others."

"No, Mom and the rest would not have believed me."  
"What is Mother like?"  
"She is nice, though I prefer to see her hurt people, but you know I am just sadistic that way."  
"That's just for defense, though, isn't it?"  
"Yeah, I guess it is."

"I thought so. I know you better than anyone else, since we have a permanent mind link. If you try, you can find out more about me."

I tried and learned everything about her.  
"Have you ever heard of music?" I asked.  
"No."  
"If I play some on my guitar, while awake, do you think you would be able to listen?"  
"Probably, let's try it."  
I woke up. I grabbed my guitar and started playing quietly, so as not to get caught. After a while I got into it and played louder when I heard _Be careful, some of the Erasers in my room were sent to investigate. Do you see where they are coming out?_

_Yeah,_ I replied.

_Go in, NOW!_

_Got it. _I was seriously going to regret this. I knew it. I could feel it. As soon as I got in a guy in a lab coat grabbed me and shoved me in a dog crate. Then he threw me next to a girl who looked just like me. "Tara?"  
"Yep," the girl replied.

_Do you know how to sing?_ I thought messaged her.

_Now I do._

_Want to sing with me. It would lighten the mood._

_Sure. What are the lyrics? _

_Just follow my lead. You should be able to catch on pretty quickly. _

_Okay. Just so you know, after you played your guitar, I learned how to summon music. I can make the same noises required. _

_Awesome. Now, this is by a favorite artist of mine, it's called Back to December_

_I think I know the tune._

_Start it up girl_

The music started up and after the intro we started singing,

"_I'm so glad _

_You made time to see me_

_How's life, tell me how's your family?_

_I haven't seen them in a while._

_You've been good busier than ever,_

_We small talk, _

_Work and the weather_

_Your guard is up and I know why._

_Because the last time you saw me,_

_Is still burned in the back of your mind_

_You gave me roses,_

_And I left them there to die._

_So this is me swallowin' my pride_

_Standin' in front of you _

_Sayin' I'm sorry for that night._

_And I go back to December all the time._

_It turns out freedom ain't nothin' but missin' you,_

_Wishin' that I realized what I had when you were mine_

_I go back to December,_

_Turn around and make it alright._

_I go back to December all the time."_

As we came to the area with no lyrics I was struck by how good she and I sounded together. I don't mean to sound cocky or anything, but it was really good.

We had come back to lyrics.

"_These days, I haven't been sleepin,;_

_Stayin' up playin' myself leavin',_

_When your birthday passed and I didn't call._

_Then I think about summer, all the beautiful times,_

_I watched you laughin' from the passenger side_

_And realized I loved you in the fall._

_And then the cold came,_

_The dark days when fear crept into my mind._

_You gave me all your love,_

_And all I gave you was goodbye._

_So this is me swallowin' my pride_

_Standin' in front of you _

_Sayin' I'm sorry for that night._

_And I go back to December all the time._

_It turns out freedom ain't nothin' but missin' you,_

_Wishin' that I realized what I had when you were mine_

_I go back to December,_

_Turn around and change my own mind. _

_I go back to December all the time._

_I miss your tan skin,_

_Your sweet smile,_

_So good to me,_

_So right;_

_And how you held me in your arms that September night, _

_The first time you ever saw me cry._

_Maybe this is wishful thinkin',_

_Probably mindless dreamin',_

_If we loved again I swear I'd love you right. _

_I'd go back in time and change it,_

_But I can't,_

_So if the chain is on your door,_

_I understand._

_But this is me swallowin' my pride,_

_Standin' in front of you,_

_Sayin' I'm sorry for that night._

_And I go back to December._

_It turns out freedom ain't nothin' but missin' you_

_Wishin' I'd realized what I had when you were mine._

_I go back to December,_

_Turn around and make it alright._

_I go back to December all the time."_

Then the outro sounded. Then when I looked around, the mutants I could see were asleep. And they were very soundly asleep.  
"This is probably the best sleep that they ever get," I said.

"It probably is. Would you mind singing me to sleep?" Tara asked.

"Not at all."

I sang a song by Taylor Swift. It was called Enchanted. She dropped off at the part that said:  
_The playful conversation starts,_

_Counter all your quick remarks,_

_Like passing notes in secrecy._

I fell asleep. And even though this was the place of my mom's nightmares, being here with Tara felt right.

**Okay, who likes Tara? I made her so she would bring out Cassie's good side. Yes, Cassie has a good side, she just doesn't put very many people on her good side. And, no, Tara and Cassie are not like Dylan. They cannot calm an entire room by singing. They just enjoy it and are good at it. The mutants in the room were very tired and hearing something other than whitecoats and Erasers and other mutants calmed them down. It showed them something peaceful. I wish I could incorporate the death of Dylan in this, but, sadly, I can't. Sorry.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, I NEED A BETA! PM me if you want to beta for this story. But make sure you mention the story name or i will just reply with, "Which story?" Thanks for reading.**

_Max POV_

Angel muffled a scream.

"What's wrong Ange," I asked.

"Cassie, she's in the School."

"No. No, she should be smarter than that."  
"She went in looking for someone and then was put in a dog crate. Then I lost the connection. She must have a link with someone inside of the School." Angel said.

"No, we need to go get her," I said. Fang walked down.

"What?" he asked, seeing the expression on mine and Angel's faces.

"Cassie is in the School and Angel can't continue a mind link with her," I said panicked.

"Tell you what, how about we calm down and get a good night's sleep. Then in the morning we will make a detailed plan. Then we will execute the plan as soon as possible," he told me while pulling me into a hug. I was just so upset I started crying. I shouldn't have but, Cassie was my daughter. I had spent the past twelve years of my life protecting her and now she was in the School. He led me up to our room. He made me sit on the bed while he hugged me and just let me cry myself to sleep.

_Cassie POV_

I woke up when a whitecoat was trying to grab Tara.  
"Hey, let go of her! Didn't anyone ever teach you manners?" I asked.

"Shut up mutant." He said.

"No!" I said.

"You must be crazy." he replied.

I just snorted and said, "Oh really? What was your first clue?"  
That shut him up. Woohoo. Shutting up of the whitecoat. He had still managed to take Tara though. I sang to her through our mind link, trying to keep her calm. She responded well. After she told me to stop I did and started working on a way out of this joint.

_Max POV_

_Time Skip: Afternoon of the next day_

"Okay, you guys, are you ready?" I asked. I was making sure my voice didn't waver.

There was a chorus of "yes" and "Yeah". We took off heading to the exact location of the School. We arrived in the late afternoon. We heard yelling coming from one of the rooms. As we approached the room I could distinctly hear Cassie yelling at someone. It almost sounded like she was yelling at him for something he did to another mutant. We flew away just before an Eraser came around the corner on patrol. We went to the woods to wait for nightfall.

_Time Skip: Later._

_Still Max POV_

We walked over to the room we were pretty sure they were keeping Cassie in. We opened the door and saw Cassie and a girl who looked JUST like her singing. The other mutants were slowly dropping off into sleep. I listened carefully and heard the words; she was singing the chorus of Enchanted. One of her favorite songs. I saw Cassie's look-alike was concentrating on keeping the music in the room going while singing at the same time. Cassie finished the song a minute later. By then the Flock and I were in the room. We hid in the shadows until we knew it was safe.

_Cassie POV_

I felt something grab me and immediately called out to Tara. She immediately shot up and looked at the people. I saw it was my mom. Great. Note the sarcasm. I then broke loose of her grip and asked her what she was doing here.  
"Breaking you out," she said.

"I'm not going without Tara," I said glaring at her. She looked at my twin, or triplet, or whatever.

"We can't take her, she probably doesn't have wings and even if she did then she wouldn't know how to use them," she said. At that I got back in my dog crate. She just stared pointedly at me and then told me to come. She acted like I was going to take orders from her. Too bad, if she hasn't learned by now then she'll never learn; I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM PEOPLE! She glared at me. Now, her death glare is impressive, but I have used mine so many times that it looks like I am about to actually kill you and enjoy it. So when I glared at her, she shrunk back. Then "Dad" told me to come.

"Why should I. I mean, that idiot believed that my sister was dead when she was here the whole time. I am not going without Tara," I said. Glaring at him. Curse his emotionlessness **(Is that a word? If not I have just made it one). **

"Please Cassie. Just come with us," Angel said.

"Go, I don't care. As long as Tara is here, I am here."  
_Cassie, you should go. I do know how to fly and you can just bust me out. You can pretend to follow them then bust me out. It would work. Just be discreet about it._ Tara reassured me that she had been taught how to fly. I followed them with a glare. Then when they walked out I went over to Tara's cage. I busted the lock and got her out with me. Mom and Dad had taken off, as well as the rest of the Flock. Tara and I agreed to grab my stuff then follow them silently. We had the prank of the century planned.

**Okay, if you read these freaking things, then I need to know what you think of Cassie's good side. Just need to know. Oh and if you want to adopt a story, PM me and I can send you details on the stories. I might just save them and continue them but for one of them I have a serious writers block. **

**Thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6: Heart and Soul

**Hey, sorry about not updating. I will try to get back on track, (school starts soon). In this chapter, we get a look at Cassie's soul (Tara can look into souls) and see who she REALLY is.**

_Cassie POV_

Tara started Misery Business by Paramore up. She started singing. We were about a mile away from them. They turned at the strange sound. Mom panicked when I wasn't with them. Then she heard singing. We got closer as the second verse started. She listened and glared at Tara when she sang a certain part. I neared her and then looked at Tara. I flew above them. I dive bombed and then landed on top of Dad. We burst out laughing.

"Cassie, are you okay?" Josh asked.

"Yeah," I said.  
"Are you sure? You just laughed at something that didn't have to do with you causing harm to someone. At least, not fully."

"Yeah, Tara brings out that special side of me. The one you will never see because I am really close to breaking your arm."

He gulped. It was hilarious watching him glance back at me worriedly. We finished the flight home.

As soon as we got home I was hit with questions from Mom.

"What happened?" she asked right off. I glanced at Tara, remembering the time when I shut the whitecoat up. We burst out laughing as we remembered. Mom looked at us weirdly.

"A whitecoat came to get me for testing. Cassie told him to lay off. He told her to shut up and she said she wouldn't. When he called her crazy she said, 'Really? What was your first clue?' and shut him up," Tara said between fits of laughter.

"Who is she?" Mom asked, gesturing to Tara.

"She's the one of us that supposedly 'died'," I say to her, hatred dripping off of my voice.

Mom gave me a look that said, _Cut the crap._ Okay, so she was thinking that to.

"I'm not joking. She is the other one. She looks exactly like me. Can't you see. Without Josh, we would be perfect. Sadly, he has to look different."

Mom looked at Tara. She broke down crying. Dad came down and looked at me with a look that said, _What did you do?  
_"Nothing," I said to his look.

"Max, are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and then hugged Tara. Fang looked confused.

"We were triplets, her, Josh, and me, and she was taken to the School. Mom thought she was dead. She and I met at the School."

"Oh," he said. I swear, if he doesn't start opening his mouth more I will seriously injure him.

"What was that?" he asked. Crap. I transmitted that to him.

"Yeah, you did," he said again. Crap. I turned my thought transmitter thingy off.

"Who is she?" Grandma Martinez asked.

"My twin sister. Josh's too. We're triplets. She's mine though. I will not let Josh get his hands on her," I said. Laughing maniacally. Tara and I burst out laughing. I had told her about Josh and her exact words were, 'way to perky for me.' Thank you. Someone understands how I feel.

"Why is Cassie laughing at something that isn't completely sadistic?" Josh asked.

"I told you. I have a good side. That good side is very hard to get onto. Tara is currently the only person who has made it there in all of history."

"Why haven't I made it there?" he asked.

"Because you are," I glanced at Tara. She and I then finished the sentence at the same time, "way to perky."

"What's wrong with being perky?" he asked.

"Nothing, for you. For us, it's annoying as all get out," I responded.

Tara and I walked up to our room (she had begged Mom to share a room with me) and we listened to music and danced for a while. As soon as Nudge opened the door, we plopped down on the floor and I pretended to be catching her up on French and Latin.

"I know you were dancing," she said.

"No we weren't," we respond quickly.

"Can you cut that out? It's freaky," she asks.

"Perfect, considering that we're mutant freaks," we say together. Now that I think about it, it is kind of creepy.

"Okay, well, Max said that it's time for you suckers to go to bed. You two have got school tomorrow." With that, she walked out. We got ready for bed and I played the guitar for awhile. Tara eventually fell asleep.

_Time Skip: The next day at normal school_

_Tara's POV_

Normal school was much different than I expected. I had expected a more humane version of the School. This was different. This was normal classes. All of my classes were with Cassie. She and I also shared a locker. She was also my tutor. I had little understanding of things in certain subjects. The whitecoats had taught me a little to see how extensive my memory and knowledge was.

"Hey, Goth Girl, who's your new friend?" he asked Cassie. Or was it me? We both looked exactly the same. Right down to the outfits.

"She's my long lost sister Tara. Now play nice. You wouldn't want two girls to break your arms, would you?" she asked with a façade of sweetness. The guy paled. Wow, Cassie wasn't kidding when she said the whole school was afraid of her. I watched her carefully. The kid started stuttering incomprehensively. She made a move and I immediately grabbed her arm, "Cassie, don't do this. You don't have to get violent every time someone insults you." She backed down. The kid looked at me like I was some kind of miracle worker.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"She listens to me. She knows she can trust me. She doesn't really trust a lot of people. She just hasn't ever felt safe putting her full trust in someone. You really don't understand what she feels on a daily basis. She masks it as anger or irritation. I won't say what it is she truly feels but just know that she is always masking how she truly feels." I hoped Cassie would understand that this person needed to know the truth. He looked at me dumbfounded. As though I had just peered into her soul. Which I did. I can peer into people's minds and souls. It's just that I don't do it unless I absolutely have to. I looked at Cassie and she sent me a thought that said, _Why the heck did you tell him that. I have been keeping that secret all my life! I need to look tough. Look weak and get bullied. I learned that early on. You made me look weak! I'm not mad, just irritated. Don't do that again. _

I looked at her and responded, _Don't worry. I won't he just needed to see how strong you really are, you are much stronger than they think. To keep that locked and hidden for years and masking it as anger and irritation and never letting anyone know what you really feel. Not even your Mom and Dad. That is just how strong you really are. _

She looked surprised for a minute, the replied with, _Your right. They think I am strong. Not just a strange girl who likes hurting people. They think I am a girl who is strong enough to hide everything she feels. I can't believe it Tara. You actually helped more than I thought possible._

_No problem sis, _I thought back.

She and I walked to class. We went through the rest of the day without issue.

_Time Skip: End of the day. Fang is picking up the kids._

_Cassie POV_

"Dad! Dad," Josh was practically killing our ears.

"What Josh?" Dad asked.

"You'll never believe it. Cassie went a whole day without hurting anyone!" he blurted.

"Don't make me end that streak right here," I threatened. He gulped and I laughed evilly.

"Cassie didn't hurt anyone. You're delusional," Dad said. I glared at him and he shrunk back a little. My glare has actually made a gang member back down. Long story.

When we got home Mom and the others had to get stuff for a _Welcome Home Tara_ party. Tara and I stayed behind.

I went down to the piano and started playing. I was just screwing around at first until I lapsed into a whole segment of One Republic songs that I was playing by ear. I kept playing and eventually got to some Bach and Mozart. I just loved music. My mom forced me to learn guitar and after that I became secretly obsessed with music. Especially playing music. I stopped for a second to move my hand to the start position of the next song. I started playing and then I heard a small creak of floorboards. I didn't stop. I was enveloped in the music. I was in that special world where you don't care who hears or what they think. You are just in the music. Breathing it. Living it. It's such a special place and I am always happy when I manage to access it. I always finish up with a smile on my face. I love music. It's my life. It's my secret passion. I was currently playing a slightly improvised version of Fur Elise by Beethoven by ear. I just didn't want to stop. I felt someone tap my shoulder and I jumped.

It was Dad.

"You're really good, you know that," he said. I blushed. I didn't care about Tara hearing, but if he heard, that meant the rest of the Flock had too. I ran up to my room saying I had homework. I heard Tara yell up, "Liar."

Later that night Nudge started blabbering. I tuned her out. I heard someone snap there fingers and jumped. I looked at the person. It was Nudge.

"Hey, Tara wants you to play the piano for her," she said.

I got up and started screwing around on the keys. I lapsed into Secrets by One Republic. I sang to. No one but Tara and the other mutants have ever heard me sing, to my knowledge at least.

_I need another story_

_Something to get off my chest_

_My life gets kinda' boring_

_Need something that I can confess_

_'Til all my sleeves are stained red_

_From all the truth that I've said  
Come by it honestly I swear  
Thought you saw me wink, no  
I've been on the brink, so_

_Tell me what you want to hear  
Something that will light those ears  
Sick of all the insincere  
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_This time, don't need another perfect lie  
Don't care if critics ever jump in line  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_My God, amazing how we got this far  
It's like we're chasing all those stars  
Who's driving shiny big black cars  
And everyday I see the news  
All the problems that we could solve_

_And when a situation rises  
Just write it into an album  
Send it straight to gold  
But I don't really like my flow, no, so_

_Tell me what you want to hear  
Something that will light those ears  
Sick of all the insincere  
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_This time, don't need another perfect lie  
Don't care if critics ever jump in line  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_Oh, got no reason, got no shame  
Got no family I can blame  
Just don't let me disappear  
I'ma tell you everything_

_Tell me what you want to hear  
Something that will light those ears  
Sick of all the insincere  
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_This time, don't need another perfect lie  
Don't care if critics ever jump in line  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_Tell me what you want to hear  
Something that will light those ears  
Sick of all the insincere  
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_This time, don't need another perfect lie  
Don't care if critics ever jump in line  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

_All my secrets away, all my secrets away_

When I finished I heard nothing. I went up to my room and went for a fly. I can't believe I did that. I just SANG in front of my family. I don't even sing for Josh or Mom. Why did I sing for them? Oh, yeah. Tara wanted me to. I would do anything for Tara. She is my best (read: only) friend. I know why it was silent. I was either terrible or really good. I am personally terrible. I don't think I am very good at anything music related. I always see where I need to improve. Where things would be better if I pushed. Nothing that I do is ever good enough for me. Then I felt something on my cheek that pulled me away from my thoughts. I realized that, for the first time in my life, I was crying. I had never shed a single tear after I was old enough to talk. It became a thing. I didn't cry, or show any emotion outside of anger or irritation.

I couldn't believe it. I, Cassie Jessica Ride, was crying for the first time in my life.

_Tara POV_

I was blown away by Cassie's performance. It was amazing. I could tell the others felt the same way. As far as I can gather, Mom and Josh never knew she could play any instrument outside of guitar and they certainly didn't know that she sang. She listened to the silence for a moment and then ran upstairs. I stared after her and saw something. Tears. There were tears streaming down Cassie's face. She was upset. I could tell. She thought that she was terrible. I heard the soft sound of her wings snapping out and the powerful downstroke that starts a flight. I ran up to our room followed by Mom. I don't know who else followed. I went after her. She was a good ways ahead.

_Mom, why did you follow me? _I ask.

_I figured you knew why Cassie took off,_ she thought to me.

She didn't know about the tears. About the pain that Cassie has been locking in her heart for years. The pain that must have finally overflowed. The pain that was overflowed because she never feels good enough as a musician. The pain because of a few moments of silence. The pain that Cassie had hidden and covered with the violent acts in her past. The pain that, until tonight, no one but me had known existed. The pain of an outcast.

I sped up and caught up with her I flew her down to a place I though she could let it all out without being disturbed. We were both in black so it would be hard to spot us. We landed and she started crying. I don't know how long we were there but it was long enough for Angel to eventually find us. She looked at Cassie with wide eyes. When everyone else caught up they did too. They had never known the pain that she suffered. The pain she was put through everyday at school. The pain that she suffers from not feeling good enough for anyone. Mom approached her tentatively.

"Cassie," she started, "are you alright?"  
Cassie looked up. She saw the others and took off. She didn't want to look weak. She never wanted anyone but me to know how weak her walls truly were. How broken she was inside. How she hid all of the broken walls behind a strong wall of anger. She was gone and it took awhile for me to find her. I turned to Mom, "Let me handle this. She trusts me."

"What do you mean? She trusts me too," she said.

"Not fully though. She almost never allows someone to earn her full trust. I am the only one so far," I said to her. I swooped down and tried to calm her down. She was so broken and now it all showed. The sadness, the rejection, the hatred, everything she had ever locked away came out. She was so weak in that time that I couldn't believe this was the same girl who tried to keep me safe from the test of the School. But I knew that this was just who she really was. The girl who never felt like she had a shoulder to cry on. The girl who needed someone now more than ever. The girl who needed someone she could trust and never had that. She had never trusted anyone. She never felt safe. Like someone was always watching her and if she trusted someone, they would betray her. Even her own mother. She had found someone to trust though, and now that she had, she felt like her walls were down. Her soul was complete chaos. I couldn't believe it. She was so weak.

She finally calmed down and ended up falling asleep. I fell asleep beside her.

We woke up to the light of the morning sun. We had school today and would likely be late. I didn't care. Cassie looked better than she had in the time I had known her. She looked more confident, less broken. She felt like she could breathe freely now. She wasn't hiding anything now. She was completely new. She was still violent, but that was to be expected. She had been violent her whole her life, she couldn't change that overnight. But she was feeling like she was safe and could be herself. At least, a little more than before what happened last night. We flew home and were assaulted by Nudge's questions, "Are you okay Cassie? I didn't think it was possible for you to cry. You're almost like Fang, except more violent. I couldn't believe it. You seem different though…" she trailed off before anyone had to cover her mouth. Cassie's eyes widened a moment and then I felt her walls rebuild.

_You don't have to protect yourself with them. They are your family. She is concerned. You need to open up a little more. These people care about you Cassie. You will always be able to be honest with them._ I thought to her.

**Okay, I need to know who cried during that chapter, I was crying while typing it. See, Cassie really has a soft side. I told you she had a good side. That includes a soft side. I'll try to update soon.**


	7. Chapter 7: Fallen Angel? Darkness?

_Cassie's POV_

Trust them? Does she know how dark some of my secrets are? Of course not. I will always guard that secret alone. The secret of the fact that I am not just a bird-kid. I am actually an angel. You read that right. Me, an angel. A fallen angel, to be specific. That means that I am stuck here. I have the life of a bird-now. I still even tell Tara that secret, I need to get special permission. I am the Fallen Angel of Darkness. There is an Angel of every element and then they have a Fallen Angel counter part. It works really well. My counterpart's name is Jennifer Sarah Leva. She is really nice. Oh, and just because we are the Darkness set doesn't mean that we are evil. We just keep the world from ending in a blinding flash of light. I would probably never live down the fact that I had cried in front of mortals.

You see, I may be a Fallen Angel but that just means that I was born to a human mother and father, or at least partly in this case. Most Fallen Angels are born without wings and get them when they are older. Because of my mother and father though, I was born with. I know what you're thinking, 'well that means Tara and Josh are Fallen Angels too, right?' Wrong. Tara and Josh were going to be a set of twins but the Society of Angel Placements made me look just like Tara and had us born as triplets. Confusing, I know. Let's just say that I don't really protect anyone unless I have to. What? Angels and Fallen Angels aren't meant to protect (all the time). We are meant to keep people in line and make sure no specific element group gains power. Why do you think volcanoes erupt after an earthquake? It's because then fire would have too much power and earth balances that out.

Well, I might as well go report to Jen (Jennifer, my Angel counterpart) that I am fine.

"Hey, Mom," I said, "I'm gonna go flying, okay?"

"Okay," she said, "Be back by nine."

Nine? Oh, well. If I pour on the speed I might be able to get there and report and then make it back by nine (ish). I started flying and hope to make it there and back in time.

I grabbed my pass necklace. We have to where a necklace that has an orb of our element on it to pass the gates to the Angel Residence. That is where the six normal Angels live with their predecessors. You see, a Fallen Angel is like the apprentice of an Angel. An Angel is the apprentice of a predecessor. When a Fallen Angel dies, the predecessor of that element becomes the Fallen Angel, the Angel the predecessor, and the Fallen Angel the Angel. It is a long never ending cycle. Dead people come to the Angel Residence after they die so they can stay there. Dead people need a place to stay too you know.

_Max POV_

"Tara," I called, "please follow Cassie and make sure she is okay. She just started flying east."

"Okay," I hoped Tara was okay. I mean, she seemed fine when she left but something was off._  
Tara POV_

I followed Cassie. I noticed she had a small lump of what looked like obsidian around her neck. It was large enough that she shouldn't have been able to fly with it. I followed her until she landed on something floating that looked like concrete.

"Hey, Cassie," A guy at a gate said.

"Hey Jero," Cassie responded, "I hope you don't mind. My sister followed me. Let her in."

She knew I followed her? The boy, Jero, continued, "Oh, well okay. Hey, why haven't you blasted me with an orb of darkness yet?"

"Your angel is right over there," she said pointing to a tall red-headed lady, "How did you get out of normal life to stand guard? I have tried that and the Society of Angel Placements always tell me to go back home and quit complaining."

Angel? Huh?

I followed her into a large city. Larger (and WAY cleaner) than the largest city on Earth.

She walked up to a lady who was talking to a mutant from the School who had died. Wait? Is this where people go when they die? I continued following her.

"Hey, Jen!" she called. A black haired lady walked up to her.

"Cassie," she said, "why are you here?"

"Two reasons. One to report and get the teasing for last night over with, and two, I need to request permission to tell my family of my identity as the Fallen Angel of Darkness."

"On reason one, that was hilarious. You are never in eternity going to live that down so don't even try. On reason two, I guess you can. I mean, Tara will eventually put the pieces together. In fact, if you didn't know, she followed you."

"I know," Cassie replied. She seemed to fit in here. It was like this was where she truly belonged.

"Now get going. It's 7:30 and it's an hour flight to your house from here IF you don't run into Erasers which I have a sneaking suspicion you will," Jen said.

I followed her as she flew back home.

_Max POV_

I heard a noise outside and went to investigate. I saw something all to familiar in the woods, Erasers.

"FANG! Erasers are outside, hurry!" I shouted. I heard the Flock coming. They got down just as one got to me and threw a punch. I dodged it and threw one myself. We fought. I was fighting when I saw someone run in.

_Cassie POV  
_This is why I love Jen. She always tells me what I am going to run into on my flight back or sometime within the next twenty-four hours. I hadn't run into any Erasers yet so I landed in the woods in the back of my house for safety's sake. I didn't run into any so I kept going until I got home. That was when the trouble started. My family was in here, I couldn't use my powers, or could I?

I duplicated myself and then made my duplicates and myself turned into darkness, which basically looks like a solid, pitch black, shadow version of myself. Now let me explain this, when in a darkness form, I can possess people. Using this power on Erasers means that I can make them all leave and never come back. If I get harmed while possessing someone then I don't get hurt. My duplicates and I possessed the bodies of the Erasers. Into their minds I spoke the words, _Leave and never return. _I walked out of the body while the Eraser turned. While still in darkness form, I made my duplicates retreat. Then I returned to normal. The amount of power it took to duplicate myself that many times and then possess some Erasers, was a lot and I blacked out.

_Max POV_

I realized the girl was Cassie. She looked conflicted. She then looked up with a resolve I had never seen on her. Suddenly there were about twenty more of her. They all turned pitch black and walked _into the Eraser's bodies._ There was a second where the Eraser's eyes glazed over like someone was controlling their mind. They turned around and the dark shapes walked out of their bodies. They retreated to one of the bodies. Then it went back to color and it was Cassie. She looked dizzy for a second and then passed out.

We took her to her room and waited for her to wake up. Tara got back and said Cassie had something major to tell us. Then we heard a thump from Cassie's room and a very long string of swears and foreign words. We (read: Fang and I) ran up to her room.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just tripped on, hmm, this is belongs to Jero. Wonder what it's doing here."

"Who's Jero?" I asked. I was going to get answers.  
"Fallen Angel of fire," she responded shortly.

"Fallen Angel?"

"Yeah, I'm one too, only I am the Fallen Angel of Darkness. I can possess people if I really want to." She laughed maniacally.

"Okay, explain." Fang was short with her.

"Okay, there are predecessors, Angels, and Fallen Angels. The predecessor is the one who was last an Angel, an Angel was last a Fallen Angel and a Fallen Angel was last a predecessor. Confusing, I know."

"How are you, a sadistic person who breaks people's arms, any kind of angel?" Josh asked.

"Because, the Angel Trio of Darkness aren't exactly the nicest people in the world," Cassie told him. Then her hand glowed black and an orb of black appeared on it and she threw it at him.

"Ow. Cassie, that hurt," he whined like a little kid. After she explained everything there was a knock on the door.

**Ooo, cliffie. Guess what. I make this stuff up as I go along and just type the first thing that pops in my head, I don't write it out first so, no matter how far fetched, this is your new chapter. If you don't like it then I can easily delete this chapter and write a new one though that will take a while.**

**~maandfangforever**


End file.
